Floyd Central baseball beats error-prone St. Xavier 5-1

The Floyd Central baseball team, ranked No. 2 in Indiana’s Class 4-A, took advantage of four crucial errors by visiting St. Xavier to deck Kentucky’s fifth-ranked team 5-1 Thursday night.

Floyd Central coach Casey LaDuke said he used the game as a barometer for his Highlanders.

“It’s a regular-season game and it really doesn’t matter,” he said. “But it really does matter. It’s a good measuring stick to see where you are. We’ve got some things figured out. I’m happy with where we’re at, but we know we’ve got work to do.

“They (his team) played with a little chip on their shoulder tonight. We were up for the game, and it showed. We need to do that every night.”

The Highlanders (14-1) scored twice in the fourth and sixth innings, as the Tigers (20-7) committed two miscues in each frame.

After St. X had tied the score at 1 in the top of the fourth against starter Kyle Beach (5-0), the Highlanders went to work. Brandon Smith reached first when St. X shortstop Avery Lane mishandled a grounder.

Smith then appeared to be caught breaking for second on a pickoff move, but he wound up at third when first baseman Hayden Ford threw wildly into the outfield.

Floyd Central made St. X pay for the errors as Beach followed with a run-scoring double and Ross Lundy sent a solid single to center field, scoring pinch-runner Dalton Drexler for a 3-1 cushion.

The Highlanders added two more in the sixth. Smith reached again, this time on a fielding error by the third baseman and went to second base on a passed ball.

Beach again came through with an RBI single to left, continuing to second on the throw to the plate. Drexler, pinch-running for Beach again, scored when Evan Jewell hit a ball to center field and it was dropped.

That made it 5-1.

“That’s a good ballclub, and you can’t give them four extra outs,” St. X coach Andy Porta said. “And that’s exactly what we did. ... They got an extra inning and a third. You can’t beat good teams like that.”

Meanwhile, the Highlanders were in the field.

“That may be the best defensive game we’ve played since I’ve been here,” LaDuke said. “If you pitch and play defense like that, you’ll win a lot of games.”

Porta said his team lacked focus, and he couldn’t understand it.

“It’s not a district opponent; it’s not a regional opponent,” he said. “To me, it’s baseball. You should be fired up every game. We’re worried about our focus a little bit.”

Floyd Central scored their first run in the second inning on bookend doubles from Smith and Jewell. Both smacked the ball into the gap in right-center field.

The Tigers tied it in the fourth. Tristan Purcell singled and stole second base. Two batters later, Andrew McCormick reached on blooper to center field and Purcell advanced to third base. He scored on a wild pitch by Beach.

“We knew it was going to be a low-scoring game,” Beach said. “We knew we had to take advantage when we got runners on base.”